[Seoul Mayor] Oh Sehoon vs Jung Wonoh... The 'Real Estate' Battle [Sisa Show]

Oh Sehoon: "Jung Wonoh Will Be Park Wonsoon Season 2"

Jung Wonoh: "Oh Sehoon Will Be Yoon Sukyeol Season 2"

Clash Ignites Over Real Estate Policy

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The lineup for the June 3 Seoul mayoral election has been set: Oh Sehoon from the People Power Party, Jeong Wonoh from the Democratic Party, Kim Jeongcheol from the Reform New Party, and Kwon Youngguk from the Justice Party. The "Battle for Seoul" is symbolized by the contest between Oh Sehoon and Jeong Wonoh. The biggest question in this election is whether Oh Sehoon will succeed in becoming a five-term mayor or if Jeong Wonoh will defeat him. Who wins Seoul is one of the key factors determining the outcome of the local elections. Even if a party wins in other metropolitan areas, a defeat in Seoul would diminish its impact. That is why both the ruling and opposition parties are staking everything on Seoul.

Looking at Seoul’s election results over the past five years, it can be assessed that the competition between the two major parties has been fairly close. In the 2022 presidential election, Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung received 45.73% of the votes, while People Power Party candidate Yoon Suk-yeol received 50.56%. In the local elections held that same year, Song Younggil ran as the Democratic Party candidate, and Oh Sehoon ran for his fourth term as the People Power Party candidate. The result was a decisive victory for Oh Sehoon, with 39.23% versus 59.05%. While the timing—early in the Yoon Suk-yeol administration—was a factor, another important reason for Song’s defeat was that, having previously served as mayor of Incheon, he had little personal connection to Seoul. In the district mayoral elections at that time, the People Power Party won in 17 districts, while the Democratic Party won in 8. In the 2024 National Assembly elections, the landscape changed dramatically: the Democratic Party won in 37 districts, and the People Power Party won in 11, mainly in Gangnam and the Han River Belt.

What about last year’s presidential election? Lee Jae-myung received 46.7%, while Kim Moonsoo received 42.1% of the votes. The gap between the two candidates was 4.6 percentage points—almost identical to the difference between Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Suk-yeol in the 2022 presidential election. Reform New Party candidate Lee Junseok received 9.8%. When viewed as a conservative vs. progressive contest, the difference in Seoul is not very pronounced.

Oh Sehoon was born in 1961 in Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul. He graduated from Da-il High School and studied law at Korea University. After passing the bar exam and becoming a lawyer, he served as chairman of the legal committee at the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement and as a member of the Environmental Committee of Lawyers for a Democratic Society. He gained considerable fame through frequent television appearances. Building on that momentum, he became a National Assembly member, then chose not to run for reelection and declared his retirement from politics. He later served as a visiting professor at Yale University, participated in overseas volunteer work, and engaged in various other activities. He served two terms as Seoul mayor, then stepped down in 2011, taking responsibility after the resident referendum on free school meals failed. He became Seoul mayor for a third term in 2021 and was elected to a fourth term in 2022. Oh Sehoon is now attempting an unprecedented fifth term as Seoul mayor.

Oh, who is in conflict with party leader Jang Donghyuk, is moving to organize an independent campaign committee centered around younger lawmakers such as Bae Hyunjin and Kim Jaeseop. He believes it would be difficult to run a successful campaign relying on the party’s low approval ratings, and is thus seeking to implement his own "Oh Sehoon-style" campaign strategy.

Who is Jeong Wonoh? He was born in 1968 in Yeosu, Jeollanam-do. He graduated from Yeosu High School and majored in economics at the University of Seoul. During his university days, he was vice president of the student council and participated in student activism. He also served as an aide to former lawmaker Lim Jongseok, a member of the Seoul City Planning Committee, and a special professor at Hanyang University. He chaired the Democratic Party's Committee for Great Local Governments and served as special assistant to the party leader for autonomous decentralization. In 2012, he ran for mayor of Seongdong-gu and, after being elected, served three terms as Seongdong-gu mayor.

Jeong Wonoh has organized a broad-based campaign committee, comprising 31 incumbent lawmakers and 48 local party chairs. He has pledged to make Seoul one of the G2 cities and has established the "Oh Sehoon 10-Year Review Committee." Oh Sehoon, for his part, insists that the Lee Jae-myung administration is running amok and has emphasized his intention to be the vanguard of conservative renewal. Both candidates are presenting themselves as a "Season 2" of their respective predecessors: Jeong Wonoh criticizes Oh Sehoon as "Yoon Suk-yeol Season 2," while Oh Sehoon rebuts by calling Jeong Wonoh "Park Won-soon Season 2."

Both are highlighting their achievements. Oh Sehoon is appealing for support to complete his signature projects such as the Han River Renaissance, the Climate Companion Card, the Wrist Doctor 9988 program, and turning Seoul into a city of gardens. Jeong Wonoh, emphasizing his achievements in advancing Seongsu-dong, criticizes Oh Sehoon for his vacillating stance during the emergency decree and impeachment periods.

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The first major clash revolves around whether to abolish the so-called Long-term Holding Special Deduction (Jangteuk Deduction). President Lee Jae-myung’s comments sparked the debate. On the 18th, President Lee wrote on social media, "If you earn more than about KRW 1 billion in wage income, you end up paying about half in taxes. But for real estate speculative windfall profits, even if they amount to tens or hundreds of billions of won, taxes are drastically reduced just because the property was held for a long time. This is against justice and common sense. The long-term holding special deduction for real estate should be abolished. For six months, there should be a grace period; for the next six months, only half should be abolished; and after one year, it should be completely abolished. If those who sell quickly benefit, more properties will come onto the market."

Recognizing the public sensitivity to real estate, the Democratic Party issued a statement saying, "Our party has never considered any tax reform related to this," trying to quell the controversy. Han Jeongae, policy chief, also stated, "The opposition is misleading the public with malicious framing and political attacks," aiming to prevent the issue from gaining traction. The People Power Party and Oh Sehoon’s camp are actively raising the issue. They are pressing Jeong Wonoh not to simply state that his position is identical to the party's, but to make his own clear stance on the matter.

The outcome of the Seoul mayoral race is expected to shift according to how voters respond to these issues, the results of upcoming television debates, how the progressive-conservative landscape is shaped, and the degree of solidarity within each camp.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.